The next
morning Sannyasi Mahasaya found no opportunity to inquire from Premadasa Babaji,
who was internally immersed in vraja-bhava, mellows of service in the
mood of the residents of Vraja. At midday, after accepting alms from the houses
of the villagers, they sat together in the arbor known as sri-madhavimalatimandapa. Paramahamsa Babaji Mahasaya then began to speak
compassionately: “O best of the bhaktas, what conclusions have you
reached after yesterday’s discussion on the subject of dharma?”

Feeling
supreme bliss (paramananda), Sannyasi Thakura asked, “Prabhu, if the jiva
is infinitesimal, how can his eternal dharma be full and pure? And
if the natural function of the jiva is formed at the time he is
constituted, how can that function be eternal?”When Paramahamsa Babaji heard
these two questions, he meditatedon the lotus feet of Sri Sacinandana and then,
smiling, said, “Respected sir, although the jiva is infinitesimal, his dharma
is full and nitya (eternal). Minuteness is only a trait by which he
is identified. Parabrahma Sri Krsnacandra, is the one and only infinite substance
(brhad-vastu), and the jivas are His innumerable atomic particles.
Like sparks emanating from an undivided fire, the jivas emanate from Krsna,
who is the embodiment of immutable consciousness. Just as every spark is
endowed with the potency of the complete fire, so each and every jiva is
capable of displaying the full function of consciousness. If a single spark has
enough fuel, it can kindle a blazing fire that will incinerate the whole world.
Similarly, even a single jiva can bring about a great inundation of love
by obtaining Sri Krsnacandra, who is the real object of love. As long as he
fails to contact the real object of his spiritual function (dharma-visaya),
the infinitesimal, conscious jiva is incapable of exhibiting the natural
development of that function. In reality,

it is only when the jiva is in
connection with his object that the identity of its dharma becomes apparent.

“What is the nitya-dharma,
or eternal, constitutional function of the jiva? You must examine this
question carefully. Transcendental love for Krsna (prema) is the jiva’s
nitya-dharma. The jiva is a substance transcendental to mundane
matter, and consciousness

is that which he is constituted. His
eternal function is divine love, and the nature of that pure prema is
service to Krsna. Therefore, the constitutional function of the jiva is
service to Krsna, which is the nature of prema.

“Jivas exist
in two conditions: suddha-avastha, the pure liberated state; or baddha-avastha,
the conditioned state. In the liberated state, the jiva is completely
spiritual (cinmaya), and has no connection with mundane matter. However,
even in the liberated

state, the jiva is an
infinitesimal entity.

“The jiva can
undergo a change in condition because he has the quality of minuteness. Krsna,
however, never undergoes a change of condition, for by His very nature He is
the entity of infinite cognition. By His essential constitution as a vastu (a
factual existent entity), He is supreme, completely pure, and eternal, whereas the
jiva, by his essential constitution as a vastu is minute, a part,
liable to contamination, and subject to repeated change. Nevertheless,

by virtue of the jiva’s dharma,
or unadulterated spiritual function, he is great, undivided, pure, and
everlasting.

As long as
the jiva is pure, his dharma displays its spotless character. However,
when he is contaminated by involvement with maya, his true nature is
perverted, and he becomes impure, bereft of shelter, and oppressed by mundane
happiness and distress. The jiva’s course

of material existence comes into effect
as soon as he forgets his attitude of service to Krsna.

“As long as the jiva remains
pure, he maintains his identity and self-conception in accordance with his
unadulterated spiritual function (sva-dharma). His innate and original
egoism is therefore rooted in the conception that he is a servant of Krsna.
However, that pure egoism recedes and assumes many different forms as soon as
he is contaminated by association with maya. The gross and subtle bodies
then cover his pure constitutional identity, and as a result, a different
egoism emerges in the subtle body (lingasarira). When this combines with
the soul’s identification with the gross body (sthula-sarira), a third
form of egoism is assumed. In

his pure spiritual form, the jiva is
exclusively a servant of Krsna. When the jiva identifies with the subtle
body, his original, pure egoism of being a servant of Krsna is covered, and he
thinks that he can enjoy the fruits of his actions. He then obtains a gross
body and thinks, ‘I am a brahmana; I am a king; I am poor; I am
miserable; I am overwhelmed by disease and lamentation; I am a woman; I am the
master of this person and that person.’ Thus, he identifies himself with many
different types of gross bodily conceptions.

“When the jiva
associates with these different types of false egoism, his constitutional
function becomes perverted. The intrinsic, constitutional function (sva-dharma)
of the jiva is unalloyed prema. This prema manifests in a
perverted way in the subtle body in the form of happiness and distress,
attachment and aversion, and so on. This perversion is observed in a more
concentrated form in the gross body as the pleasures of eating, drinking, and contact
with sense objects. You should understand clearly that the eternal function of
the jiva, known as nitya-dharma, is manifest only in his pure
state. The dharma that arises in the conditioned

state is known as naimittika,
circumstantial. Nitya-dharmais by nature
complete, pure, and eternal. I will explain naimittika-dharmaat length another day.

“The
unalloyed vaisnava-dharma that has been depicted in the Srimad-Bhagavatam
is eternal religion (nitya-dharma). The various types of dharma that
are propagated in the world may be divided into three categories: nitya-dharma,
naimittika-dharma (circumstantial dharma), and anitya-dharma (impermanent
religion). Anitya-dharma is religion that does not speak about the
existence of Isvara and does not accept the eternality of the soul. Naimittika-dharma
acknowledges the existence of Isvara and the eternality of the soul but only
endeavors to obtain the mercy of Isvara through provisional methods. Nitya-dharma
strives to obtain the service of Bhagavan by means of unalloyed prema.

“Nitya-dharma
may be known by different names according to differences of country, race,
and language. However, it is one, and supremely beneficial. The ideal example
of nitya-dharma is vaisnava-dharma, which is prevalent in India.
The pristine state of vaisnava-dharma is that dharma which Bhagavan
Sacinandana, the Lord of our heart, has taught to the world. It is for this
reason that great personalities absorbed in the bliss of divine love have accepted
these teachings and taken help from them.”

At this point
Sannyasi Thakura with folded hands said, “Prabhu, I am constantly witnessing
the super-excellence of the spotless vaisnava-dharma which Sri Sacinandana
has revealed, and I have clearly realized the contemptible nature of Sankaracarya’s
monistic

doctrine. Still, something has come to
my mind, which I feel I must submit to you; I don’t want to hide it. I
understand that mahabhava, which was displayed by Sri Caitanya, is the
highest state of concentrated prema. Is it different from the attainment
of the perfection of absolute oneness (advaita-siddhi)?”

When Paramahamsa
Babaji heard the name of Sri Sankaracarya, he offered prostrated obeisances
unto the acarya and said, “Respected sir, sankarah sankarah saksat: ’Sankaracarya
is none other than Mahadeva-Sankara, or Sivaji.’ You should always remember this.
Sankara is guru for the Vaisnavas, and for this reason Mahaprabhu has
referred to him as acarya (spiritual preceptor). For his own part, Sri Sankara
was a perfect Vaisnava.

“At the time Sri
Sankara’s appeared in India, there was a great need for a guna-avatara like
him, an incarnation who presides over the qualities of material nature. The
study of the Vedic sastras and the practice of varnasrama-dharma had
become practically extinct in India due to the influence of sunyavada (voidism),
the nihilistic Buddhist philosophy. Sunyavada is vehemently opposed to
the personal conception of Bhagavan. Although it partially accepts

the principle of the living being’s
identity as a conscious, spiritual soul (jivatma), it is an extreme
example of anitya-dharma (impermanent religion). The brahmanas of
that era had abandoned the Vedic dharma and had in effect all become
Buddhists. At that point, Sankaracarya appeared as an extremely powerful
incarnation of Mahadeva. He re-established the credibility of the Vedic literatures
and converted the sunyavada doctrine of voidism into the brahmavada doctrine
of nirvisesa (featureless) brahma. This was an extraordinary
feat, and India will remain ever indebted to Sri Sankaracarya for this
tremendous contribution.

“All
activities in this world fall into one of two categories: some are relative to
a particular period of time, and some are applicable for all time. The work of Sankaracarya
was relative to a particular period and bestowed tremendous benefit. Sankaracarya
laid the foundation upon which great acaryas such as Sri Ramanujacarya erected
the edifice of pure vaisnava-dharma. Consequently, Sankaravatara was a
great friend and preceptor who pioneered vaisnava-dharma.

“Vaisnavas
are now reaping the fruit of Sankaracarya’s philosophical precepts. For the jivas
who are bound by matter, there is a great need for sambandha-jnana,
knowledge of the soul’s entanglement in material nature and of his relationship
with Bhagavan. Sankaracarya and the Vaisnavas both accept that the sentient living
entities in this material world are completely distinct and separate from their
gross and subtle material bodies, that the jivas

are spiritually existent, and that
liberation (mukti) entails giving up all connection with this material
world. Consequently, there is a great deal of agreement between the doctrine of
Sankara and that of the Vaisnava acaryas, up to the point of liberation.
Sankara has even taught that the worship of Sri Hari is the method by which one
can purify the heart and attain liberation. He has only remained silent
regarding what extraordinary destination the jiva

attains after liberation.

“Sankara knew
perfectly well that if the jivas could be prompted to strive for liberation
through the worship of Hari, they would gradually become attached to the
pleasure of bhajana and thus become suddha-bhaktas, pure
devotees. That is why he simply pointed out the path and didn’t reveal further
confidential secrets of vaisnava-dharma. Those who have scrutinized the
commentaries of Sankara can understand his inner intention, but those who are
only preoccupied with the external aspect of his teachings remain far from the
threshold of vaisnava-dharma.

“From one
specific point of view, the perfected state of absolute oneness (advaita-siddhi)
seems identical to prema. However, the narrow interpretation of absolute
oneness is certainly different from the meaning of prema. What is prema?
You should understand clearly that prema is the unadulterated function
by which two transcendental entities are spontaneously attracted to each other.
Prema cannot occur without the separate existence of two transcendental entities.
Krsna-prema is the dharma by which all transcendental entities
are eternally attracted to the supreme transcendent Entity, Sri Krsnacandra.
The ideology of prema rests on the eternally established truths that Krsnacandra
has His own eternal, separate existence, and that the jivas have their
own eternal, separate existence, following His leadership (anugatya);
and that this prema-tattva is also an eternally perfect truth (nityasiddha-tattva). The distinct presence of three seperate ingredients– the
relisher, the object of relish, and the act of relishing – is a fact. If the
relisher of prema and the object of relish are one and

the same, then prema cannot be an
eternal reality.

“We can say
that absolute oneness or advaita-siddhi is the same as prema if
we define advaita-siddhi as the pure state of a transcendental entity
who has no relationship with insentient matter. This conception of advaita-siddhi
implies oneness in the sense that spiritual entities have become one in
their spiritual nature and function (cid-dharma). However, modern
scholars who have adopted the doctrine of Sankara are not satisfied with this
idea, and they have tried to establish that spiritual entities, cid-vastu
have themselves become indistinguishably one and the same substance. In so
doing, they have disregarded the true Vedic conception of non-distinction and
have propagated a distorted version in its place. Vaisnavas declare this
philosophy to be opposed to the Vedas because it denies the eternality
of prema.

“Sankaracarya
described the state of non-distinction simply as the unadulterated condition of
spiritual substance. However, his modern-day followers could not understand his
inner intention, and consequently they have marred their guru’s reputation
by teaching a thoroughly debased doctrine known as Mayavada, which describes
the various states of prema as illusory phenomena.

“Mayavadis
deny from the very outset that anything exists except the one spiritual
substance (brahma), and they also deny that the function of prema exists
within that spiritual substance. They claim that brahma is beyond the
influence of maya as long as it remains in a state of oneness, but that brahma
becomes overwhelmed by maya when it becomes embodied and takes on
various shapes in the form of jivas. Consequently, they believe that the
form of

Bhagavan is an illusory manifestation.
In reality, though, His form is eternally pure and constituted of concentrated
consciousness. For this reason, they have concluded that prema and its
various manifestations are illusory, and that the knowledge of non-duality (advaita-jnana)
is beyond the influence of maya. Their mistaken conception of advaita-siddhi
or oneness can never be equated with prema.

“Sri
Caitanyadeva instructed the world to taste prema, and He personally
taught it by His transcendental behavior and activities. This prema is
completely beyond the jurisdiction of maya, and it is the highest
development of the unalloyed state of perfect oneness (advaita-siddhi).
The state known as mahabhava is a special transformation of this prema,
in which premananda is extraordinarily powerful. Consequently, both the
separateness and intimate relationship of the lover and the beloved are
transported to an unprecedented state. The inconsequential theory of Mayavada is
useless for understanding the subject matter of prema in any of its
stages.”

Sannyasi Thakura
said with great reverence, “O Prabhu, My heart is deeply pierced with the
realization that the Mayavada doctrine is most insignificant. Today, you have
mercifully dispelled whatever lingering doubts I had in this regard. I feel a
strong desire to give up wearing this Mayavada sannyasa garb.”

Babaji Mahasaya
said, “O Mahatma, I never give instruction on external dress. When the dharma
or spiritual function of the heart becomes purified, the external dress
will be set right easily and naturally. Where there is too much concern for
external appearance, there is inattention to the soul’s inner function. When
your heart becomes pure, you will automatically develop attachment for the
external behavior of Vaisnavas, and there will be no fault if you change your
external dress then. Absorb your heart completely in trying to follow the
teachings of Sri Krsna Caitanya, and later you may adopt the external items of vaisnava-dharma
to which you are naturally inclined. You should always remember this instruction
of Sriman Mahaprabhu:

markata-vairagya
na kara loka dekhana

yathayogya
visaya bhunja’ anasakta hana

antare
nistha kara, bahye loka-vyavahara

acirat
krsna tomaya karibe uddhara

Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya (16.238-239)

Do not adopt markata-vairagya
(external, monkey renunciation) simply to impress the general populace. You
should accept without attachment whatever sense objects are appropriate for
maintaining your devotional practices and give up all material desires within
your heart. Internally develop staunch faith in Sri Krsna and externally carry
out your worldly responsibilities in such a way that no one can detect your
inner mood. If you act like this, Sri Krsna will very quickly deliver you from
material existence.

Sannyasi Thakura
understood the deep significance of this discussion, and made no further
suggestion about changing his outer dress. Folding his hands he said, “Prabhu,
since I am now your disciple, and I have taken shelter at your lotus feet, I
will bear upon my head whatever instructions you give, without any argument. I have
understood from your instructions that unadulterated krsnaprema constitutes
the only vaisnava-dharma. This love for Krsna is the nitya-dharma of
the jivas, and it is complete, pure, and natural. But what of the
various dharmas that are prevalent in different countries—how should I
regard these different religions?”

Babaji Mahasaya
said, “O Mahatma, dharma is only one, not two or many. The jivas have
only one dharma, and it is known as vaisnava-dharma. Differences
of language, country, or race cannot create differences in dharma. Jaiva-dharma
is the constitutional function of the jiva. People may give it
different names, but they cannot create a different constitutional function. Jaiva-dharma
is the unadulterated spiritual love that the infinitesimal entity has

for the Infinite Entity. It appears to
become distorted into variousmundane forms because the jivas
possess different material natures.That is why
the name vaisnava-dharma has been given to identifythe pure form of jaiva-dharma. The degree of vaisnava-dharma
inany religion or dharma is a
measure of its purity.

“Some time
ago, in Sri Vraja-dhama, I submitted a question at the lotus feet of Sriman Mahaprabhu’s
confidential associate, Sri Sanatana Gosvami. I asked him whether the word ishqh
in the Islamic religious tradition means unadulterated love, or something else.
Sanatana Gosvami was a learned scholar of all the sastras, and his erudition
in the Arabic and Farsi languages in particular knew no bounds. Sri Rupa Gosvami,
Sri Jiva Gosvami, and other exalted spiritual preceptors were present in that
assembly. Sri Sanatana Gosvami kindly answered my question as follows:

“ ‘Yes, the
word ishqh means love. Adherents of Islam do use the word ishqh in
relation to the worship of Isvara, but the word generally means love in the
ordinary worldly sense. Islamic religious teachers have not been able to
understand the true conception of the pure spiritual entity, or suddha-cid-vastu.
This is evident from the poetical account of the devoted lovers Laila and Majnun
and from the literary descriptions of ishqh by the great poet Hafiz.
They have referred to ishqh either as physical love pertaining to the
gross body, or as emotional love in relation to the subtle body. Thus they cannot
have had any experience of unadulterated divine love or prema towards
Bhagavan. I have never seen this type of prema described in any
religious texts of the Muslim teachers; I have only seen it in the Vaisnava sastras.
The same is true of the Muslim word ruh, which means soul or spirit. It
does not seem that Muslim teachers have used the word ruh to mean the suddha-jiva
(the liberated soul); rather, they have used the word ruh in the
sense of the baddha-jiva, the soul bound by matter.

“ ‘I have not
seen unadulterated love for Krsna taught in any other religion, whereas
descriptions of krsna-prema are common throughout the teachings of vaisnava-dharma.
In the second cloak of Srimad-Bhagavatam, krsna-prema has
been lucidly described in the statement, projjhita-kaitava-dharma: ‘This
Srimad-Bhagavatam propounds the highest truth from which all pretentious
religiosity has been rejected.’ Nonetheless, I have full faith that Sri Krsna Caitanya
was the first to give full instructions on the religion of unalloyed krsna-prema.
If you have faith in my words, you may accept this conclusion.’ Having heard
these instructions, I offered prostrated obeisances to Sanatana Gosvami again
and again.”

When Sannyasi
Thakura heard this explanation from Babaji Maharaja, he immediately offered dandavat-pranama
to him. Paramahamsa Babaji then said, “O best of the bhaktas, I will
now answer your second question. Please listen attentively. The words ‘creation’
and ‘formation’, when applied to the jiva, are used in a material
context. The speech of this world functions by drawing from the experience of
material phenomena. The time that we experience is divided into the three
phases of past, present and future. This is material time (jadiya-kala),
which is connected with the material energy, maya. In the spiritual
domain, there is spiritual time, cit-kala, which eternally exists in the
present, with no divisions of past and future. The jivas and Krsna exist
in that spiritual time, so the jiva is eternal and ever-existing.

“The
functions of creation, formation and falling take place under the influence of
material time, and they are used to describe the jiva after he is bound
in this material world. However, even though the jiva is infinitesimal,
he is an eternal, spiritual entity, and his fundamental constitution existed
before he entered this material world. Since past and future do not exist in
the spiritual world, whatever occurs within that spiritual time frame is
eternally present. Therefore, in reality, the jiva and his
constitutional function are both ever-present and eternal.

“I have
explained all this to you in words, but you can only understand their true
meaning to the extent that you have realized and experienced the unalloyed
spiritual realm. I have just given you a glimpse; you should try to realize the
meaning of what I have said through cit-samadhi, spiritual meditation.
You will not be able to understand these topics through mundane logic or by
debate. The more you can free your faculty of experience from material bondage,
the more you will be able to experience the spiritual domain.

“First you
should cultivate the realization of your pure spiritual identity and practice
chanting sri-krsna-nama purely, then your spiritual function known as jaiva-dharma
will be clearly revealed. Spiritual realization and experience cannot be
fully purified by the eightfold yoga system known as astanga-yoga or
brahma-jnana by cultivating knowledge of the all-pervading, featureless brahma.
The jiva can only manifest his nitya-siddha-dharma or eternal
spiritual function, by constantly cultivating activities directly meant for Krsna’s
pleasure.

“You should
constantly practice chanting hari-nama with great enthusiasm. Such practice
is true spiritual culture. By chanting hari-nama regularly, you will
develop unprecedented attachment for sri-krsna-nama within a short time,
and you will directly experience the spiritual realm. Chanting sri-hari-nama
is the foremost of all the different limbs of bhakti, and it yields
the quickest results. This is confirmed by Sri Mahaprabhu’s instructions in Sri
Krsnadasa Kaviraja’s magnificent work, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya
4.70-71):

bhajanera
madhye srestha nava-vidha bhakti

‘krsna-prema’,
‘krsna’ dite dhare maha-sakti

tara
madhye sarva-srestha nama-sankirtana

niraparadhe
nama laile paya prema-dhana

Of all the
different types of spiritual practice, the nine forms

of bhakti (sravanam,
kirtanam, etc.) are the best because they

have
tremendous power to deliver Krsna and krsna-prema.

Of these nine
practices, nama-sankirtana is the best. By

chanting sri-krsna-nama
without offense, one obtains the

priceless
treasure of prema.

“Mahatma, if
you ask how to recognize a Vaisnava, I will tell you that a Vaisnava is someone
who has given up all offenses, and who chants sri-krsna-nama with great
feeling. There are three categories of Vaisnavas: the kanistha (neophyte),
the madhyama (intermediate), and the uttama (most exalted). A kanistha
Vaisnava chants the name of Krsna occasionally, a madhyama Vaisnava chants
the name of Krsna constantly, and an uttama Vaisnava causes others to
chant sri-nama by his very presence. According to Mahaprabhu’s
instructions, we do not need any other criteria to discern who is a Vaisnava.”

Sannyasi Thakura
was deeply immersed in the nectar of Babaji Maharaja’s instructions, and he
began to dance as he chanted srikrsna-nama: ‘Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna,
Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare’. On that
day, he

experienced ruci, a natural
taste, for hari-nama. Offering prostrated obeisances unto the lotus feet
of his guru, he prayed, “Prabhu! O friend of the destitute! Please
bestow your mercy upon this wretched soul.”